Disseminating and Sharing Research via Preprints

Posted on by

This is not my first post on preprints and I suspect it will not be my last. By definition, a preprint is a draft manuscript that is shared publicly (often via a preprint server) before it has been peer reviewed. For the researcher, there are several benefits for posting a preprint to include, early credit and visibility for the research done, and an opportunity to obtain feedback prior to submitting the manuscript to a journal for publication. In my professional readings this month, I’ve noted a couple of interesting articles about preprints.

Exciting News! A new preprint server is scheduled to go live on June 25 and is now accepting manuscripts. medRxiv, a collaboration between Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Yale University, and the BMJ will focus on the medical sciences. This resource was developed with a wealth of past experience from the founders of bioRxiv, who have been working on medRxiv since 2017 to deliver a platform that would share new research while safeguarding concerns of making non-peer reviewed clinical research available. View a short video (10:55 min) from other collaborators entitled, “Research Preprint Server Launches at Yale University”, to learn more about medRxiv.

Continue reading →

Checking in on Checkpoint Inhibitors

Posted on by
Dr. Allison Betof Warner

Dr. Allison Betof Warner

A recent article from WebMD Health News discusses the promise—and limitations—of immune therapies. These therapies—”checkpoint inhibitor” drugs like Keytruda, Opdivo, and five others approved by the FDA—have successfully treated cancers ranging from melanoma to types of lung, colorectal, and kidney cancers. As MSK’s Dr. Allison Betof Warner says in the article, they have saved numerous lives and been a “game changer.”

Still, checkpoint inhibitors have limitations. Sometimes, drugs will initially shrink a cancer and then stop working. Some patients see no benefit, including 30 to 40 percent of advanced melanoma patients. Medical professionals also can’t predict which patients will experience serious side effects. This is why, Betof Warner concludes, “Immune therapy is an incredible tool. But it’s not a magic bullet.” Researchers are working to continue improving checkpoint inhibitor efficacy.

Filtering Search Results in PubMed

Posted on by

Overwhelmed with the number of results retrieved in a PubMed search? You can narrow down the results by using PubMed Filters, located to the left of your results. Filters allow you to limit your results based on certain criteria: article type, publication date, age, language, and more.

To see additional filters, click on Select Additional Filters and mark the category(s) of interest. Once checked they will be displayed for you to select them to limit your search.

However, there are some things to consider when using Filters. The majority of Filters rely on MeSH (Medical Subject Headings), and only articles from the journals indexed in Medline have MeSH. And while Medline comprises the majority of PubMed, there is some content found in PubMed which is not indexed in Medline. This can be due to recent publications that are still “In-Process” and awaiting MeSH indexing, or content that is deposited in PubMed through the Open Access initiatives of PubMed Central (PMC).

Since most of the Filters are MeSH, by applying them you automatically limit your search results to Medline content, thus excluding the most recent, In-Process, Medline content and the rest of PubMed. The only Filters that are not MeSH and can be safely applied to your search are ‘Publication dates’ and ‘Languages’.

What if you want to still use the Filters and conduct a comprehensive search or include the In-Process citations? You will need to apply the Filters to retrieve Medline citations and use additional search strategies to retrieve as much of non-Medline content as possible.

Takeaways:

  • Medline is not the whole of PubMed.
  • Only references from Medline indexed journals are searchable with MeSH (with the exception of the most recent ones which are In-Process).
  • Most Filters are MeSH and using them automatically limits your search to Medline processed citations.
  • If you still want to use Filters yet to capture both Medline and non-Medline citations you need to devise your search strategies accordingly.
  • In case you need help with searching ask your Librarian.